


amakoi (rainy love)

by thunderylee



Category: Japanese Actor RPF, KAT-TUN (Band), NewS (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Angels, F/M, POV First Person, Romance, tegomasu rain angels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-22
Updated: 2011-03-22
Packaged: 2019-01-28 12:07:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12606264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thunderylee/pseuds/thunderylee
Summary: The Rain Angels have a new recruit… and an impossible assignment.





	amakoi (rainy love)

**Author's Note:**

> reposted from agck. written for je_whiteday 2011.

The room seemed to get even brighter as Tegoshi flashed a smile, spinning on his heel with all of the grace of an idol and gesturing widely around him.

“So what do you think, Maki-chan?”

I squinted against the surplus of light and tried to smile back. “It’s so… white.”

“You’re overwhelming her,” Massu told Tegoshi with a frown; suddenly the atmosphere sunk. “I told you we should have waited to bring her here.”

“Why postpone the inevitable?” Tegoshi shrugged. “We would have had to bring her here eventually. Why not just jump right in?”

Massu narrowed his eyes and leaned in to hiss, “Look at her! She’s freaking out.”

“She’s _not_ freaking out,” Tegoshi hissed back. “I’ve worked with her before, Massu. This is just how she is.”

“Um, I’m right here,” I informed them.

They both turned to look at me with blank expressions. I waved.

“Maki-chan,” Tegoshi said grandly. “Welcome to Rain Angel headquarters.”

If I hadn’t been standing on a cloud, I would have never believed him. As it was, I was still kind of in shock at the logistics of this place. It actually looked like the set of a crime drama, with head-shots posted on white boards and maps _everywhere_. The only difference was that the live-action maps were powered by something other than digital cameras. Something _higher_.

And to think, I’d been convinced that my once-costar was asking me to meet him alone so that he could try to get into my pants. I should have known better – I mean, it was _Tegoshi_.

“Sorry for him,” Massu said to me in such a familiar way that it felt like a frequently-spoken phrase. “We’ve never had a new angel before.”

“You should be honored,” Tegoshi said airily. “It’s just been Massu and me for _years_. I guess there’s just so much love lately that we can’t handle it by ourselves anymore.”

“That, and Management said we needed a girl,” Massu added. “Something about a woman’s intuition.”

Tegoshi hrmphed. I figured he was pretty offended that his own intuition wasn’t good enough.

“Let’s get started,” he said briskly, moving behind me to ‘guide’ me around the room. He spoke so fast that I could hardly follow, something about assignments and timing and rain. I didn’t need a lecture to know that the point was to rain on people so that they would fall in love – I’ve seen the PV.

“What if it doesn’t work?” I asked skeptically, folding my arms across my chest as Tegoshi continued to push me around. “Do we get in trouble?”

“It _always_ works,” Tegoshi breathed quietly. It was kind of creepy. “They may not act on it right away, but the seed of affection has definitely been planted.”

“Does this mean Maki-chan will join us?” Massu asked, his face lighting up even _more_.

“I was the chosen one, right?” I replied with a shrug. “Besides, I’m already here.”

“That’s my girl!” Tegoshi declared, loudly, and I made a face as he squeezed me around the waist.

If I got to spray him in the face with water, this would be worth it.

~ ~

“You’ve been spending a lot of time with TegoMasu lately,” my roommate accused me over coffee. “Something you want to tell me?”

“Side project,” I told her. Rule Number One of the Rain Angels is that you don’t talk about the Rain Angels.

Meisa made a knowing noise. “Don’t tell me you’re singing.”

“ _No_ ,” I said. “And if you say the word ‘sandwich’, I’m dumping my eggs on your head.”

Her smirk gave away her guilt. “You’d be one of the bread slices anyway, wouldn’t you?”

“Ugh.” I pushed away my bowl and got up to leave. “Thanks for ruining my appetite.”

“Oh, it’s not _that_ disgusting,” Meisa said, grabbing me by the arm and pushing me right back into my chair. She shoved my bowl back towards me and stared pointedly until I reached for my chopsticks. “Masuda is kind of cute, actually.”

I shoved a mouthful past my lips and chewed a bit before speaking. “You want me to hook you up? I’m pretty sure he likes girls.”

“I don’t date,” Meisa said firmly, swallowing another bite before pushing her own bowl away and standing. “See you later.”

“Later,” I said, continuing to eat as I watched her leave.

She had always been a bad liar.

~ ~

TegoMasu were arguing when I arrived at headquarters, hushed voices and narrowed eyes that widened in guilt as I approached.

“Is it the sweater?” I joked. “I know it’s furry, but I don’t own a lot of white things. And it’s not really in season right now.”

Massu nodded like he felt my pain. I’m sure he did.

“We were just, um.” Tegoshi actually looked sheepish, which had me worried about a range of awful things, including the end of the world. “Going over your first assignment.”

“Assignment!” I squealed, racing towards them. “Finally! I was getting bored just shadowing you two. It’s not nearly as fun as you made it look in the PV.”

“Well, we had to make it unrealistic,” Massu explained, and I nodded in full understanding. “It’s quite complex in practice. You have to study your subject and pick the perfect person for him or her based on what you learn. _Then_ you have to find a way for them to cross paths without interfering, preferably outside with a lack of coverage.”

“That last part is the most important,” Tegoshi jumped in. “Sakurai-kun and Ishihara-san took _months_ because they always had their umbrellas with them!”

“With some, it’s better not to have umbrellas at all,” Massu pointed out. “Masami-chan used hers to smack Ninomiya-kun when we first rained on them.”

Tegoshi gave a short chuckle. “Be careful doing more than one couple at the same time,” he warned. “I still think something backfired with Ryo and Shige and their girlfriends.”

“Nocchi and A-chan don’t seem to mind, though,” Massu added, but he looked a bit traumatized at the thought.

I didn’t want to know. “I’ll be fine,” I assured them. “Give me my assignment!”

Tegoshi tried to withhold the small rolled-up paper from me, but I had worked with his agency a lot and knew where to strike. My hand rushed to mess up his hair, successfully grabbing the paper while he was distracted. Smirking smugly, I held the miniature scroll out in front of me and unrolled it.

My face fell at the name. “Akanishi Jin?”

Massu cringed. “I was just telling Tegoshi that we might be able to switch it-”

“And _I_ was saying that you can handle it,” Tegoshi interrupted. “This should actually be quite easy. According to this report, he’s been incredibly lonely for the past couple months.”

“I don’t know,” I said slowly. “Isn’t there some kind of conflict-of-interest clause? I’m still friends with his roommate. Sometimes I kick his ass in video games. Jin, I mean. Well, both of them, really.”

“That will just make it easier, won’t it?” Tegoshi egged on. “You already know him, more than you would a stranger anyway, and you can utilize your mutual friends to get more information.”

I stared at the name some more. “Of all of the people in Japan…”

“You can do it, Maki-chan!” Tegoshi cheered, reluctantly echoed by Massu.

“I’ll do my best,” I said, the determination coming full-force as I pumped my fist in the air.

If this were a drama, I would have had some amazing catch phrase to say right here, but instead I just grunted and waved at the other two rain angels – my partners.

“See you later, Tegoshi-kun, Masuda-kun!”

“Hey, Maki-chan,” Tegoshi stopped me. “Shouldn’t you be calling us ‘senpai’?”

Massu pushed him out of the way before I could bean him in the face with my wadded-up assignment.

~ ~

Yamapi was out of the country, but that didn’t thwart my plans very much. In fact, it might have helped them since Yamapi told me where the spare key was so that I could look for my USB drive that I _must_ have lost in his couch cushions or somewhere.

I could have probably told him I left my underwear there for as much as he paid attention. If it wasn’t for the whole secrecy thing, I would have just told him I need to spy on his roommate in order to find him a soulmate. Yamapi would have been behind that; he was always in full support of his friends’ happiness.

Using the key took away all of the thrills of breaking and entering, as disappointing as it was to admit. I had it on good authority that Jin was working, leaving the entire place to me for a couple hours at least. It wouldn’t take me too long to get what I needed.

Except that once I was standing there, leaning against the back of their ugly couch, I had no idea where to start. I was tempted to text Massu, but that might be awkward. I didn’t know him as well as I knew Tegoshi, and I was definitely _not_ texting Tegoshi. I could do this on my own – I didn’t need his help.

I figured it wouldn’t hurt to look around. Maybe something would jump out at me. Not literally, hopefully, although anything was possible in a bachelor pad. I tried to shake those thoughts out of my mind as I checked the contents of their refrigerator and pantry, helped myself to a fruit drink, and moved on to the other rooms.

The place was surprisingly clean, which just made me think that one of their mothers had just swung by. That would also explain why I didn’t find anything incriminating in the DVD rack – they must hide their porn.

The bathroom looked like a bathroom. It had to be Jin’s, since Yamapi had the master bedroom, and Jin had more beauty supplies littering the shelves than Meisa and I combined. I picked up the closest bottle of cologne and sniffed it like a true creeper, seeing if anything magically came to me by the scent alone.

All I got was a cough, which served me right, really. Back on the sink the bottle went and across the hall I trudged on. There was a moment of guilt when I put my hand on the knob to Jin’s bedroom door, but the moment passed and I was going straight for the laptop.

Naturally, it was a Dynabook. It was also very slow to boot, so slow that I nearly drifted off until I heard what was undeniably a door opening across the apartment.

“I’m home~” Jin’s voice called out, tonelessly, and I almost fell out of his chair scrambling to get up.

“Shit, shit, shit,” I gasped, staring helplessly at the laptop that _still_ wasn’t booted up. Yamapi should seriously get him a new one.

It would have to stay that way. Maybe he would think he just left it on or something. More importantly, I needed to _hide_. There was too much stuff under Jin’s bed and his desk was out in the open.

This left the closet. With no other option, I held my breath and jumped, expecting to drown in a rack of Jin-scented clothes but only finding a few hangers. He must not hang up his clothes, I mused. Either that, or he wasn’t here long enough to acquire many.

That realization, coupled with the monotone greeting to an empty apartment, made me feel kind of sad for him. The report had said he was lonely, which I had found hard to believe when I had Googled him the night before. He looked so happy and excited in every picture and video I saw. Even the few times I’d hung out with Yamapi here, Jin hadn’t given me any indication that his life was anything less than fabulous.

I guess he was a better actor than I had thought. I couldn’t even bring myself to feel bad about spying on him when he flung open the door to his room, completely ignored the bright, loaded display on his laptop (and the drink can on his desk, shit), and fell face-first onto his bed.

His groan kind of broke my heart, and it was then that I decided that I was definitely going to find Akanishi Jin true love. It was my duty as a Rain Angel. Yamapi would approve.

Nothing happened for a few minutes, then Jin rolled over onto his back and scrolled through his phone. He must not have found anyone worth calling, because he let the phone fall to his side and left the room.

The next thing I heard was the shower running. This was clearly my cue to leave, but I went straight for his phone instead. I told myself it was okay to look through his text messages since I wasn’t his girlfriend, even if there ended up being nothing juicy for me to take away from it. It was just his mom, Yamapi, other guys from the agency, Shirota, and people I didn’t know but were obviously male.

I went back about six months before I gave up, without a single message to or from an unrelated female. As a last ditch effort I checked his contact list, which was naturally huge. There were potentially female names, but nobody I recognized. Even if I did find one, what good would it be? Just because he had a name in his phone didn’t mean they were meant to be together.

This wasn’t helpful at all.

The water stopped and I remembered where I was, dropping the phone and racing out of the apartment before I could get caught – or even worse, have to see Jin naked. I ran all the way down the street, catching my breath while I waited for the crosswalk light, and it wasn’t until I was on the bus home that I realized I still had Yamapi’s spare key.

He probably wouldn’t notice it missing.

~ ~

All things considered, stalking Akanishi Jin was pretty boring.

“You get used to it,” Massu mumbled sleepily from where he was curled up further down our cloud. “It helps when they have a routine, then it’s easier to know when to strike.”

“Akanishi-kun is kind of pathetic, isn’t he?” Tegoshi mused, and it sounded a bit like the assessment pleased him. “Even with so much going on in his career, he doesn’t seem to do much more than mope around.”

He jerked when a ball of fluff hit him on the side of the head. “Don’t let your personal feelings affect your work again,” Massu warned him. “It was bad enough with A-chan.”

I peered more closely at Jin while those two bickered. He didn’t appear to be sad or depressed, just _there_. I didn’t know him very well, but I remembered Yamapi saying that when Jin was focused on something, he did it with all of himself and often came off as careless or aloof. When I first met him, years ago, he didn’t seem to pay any attention to me and naturally I thought he didn’t like me. It turned out he just had a lot on his mind at the time and he was actually kind of shy around people he didn’t know very well – especially girls.

If I pitied Jin at all, it was because of how misunderstood he was. In relation to my assignment, matching him with a complete stranger wouldn’t be very ideal. I might have been onto something by going through his phone after all – the absolute _last_ thing he needed right now was the pressures and uncertainty of wooing someone new. He wanted love and romance, that much was obvious, but he also needed to be comfortable.

Watching him go about his daily business just made me impatient. “Can’t we make his car break down or something so that he has to walk?” I asked after about a week of surveillance. “How can we rain on him if he’s only outside for seconds at a time?”

“All we control is the rain, Maki-chan,” Tegoshi said. “We are not God. Couples are already fated to be together – we just give them the push they need to meet.”

Massu approached us with snacks. “You know how it used to be solely about timing? Like, two people would bump into each other on the street and fall in love?”

I nodded.

“Well, these days people are more cautious about that kind of thing. Even if they stop to apologize and make small talk, they don’t have the courage to exchange numbers or move forward together. We help to push that along a little.”

“By raining on them?” I inquired. “How does that ensure a second meeting?”

“By association,” Tegoshi answered. “Getting caught in the rain with someone is romantic, so they will remember that person the next time they see rain. It’s psychological. Sometimes the feeling is so strong that they will go back to the place they met in hopes of seeing each other again, but very rarely will they part without opening some type of future communication.”

I thought about this. “Are there drugs in the rain or something? Love potions?”

“ _No_ ,” Tegoshi replied, giving me an unimpressed look. “When two people are compatible and open to the idea of finding love, it happens naturally. We just bring them together.”

“How do you know who’s compatible?” I demanded. “It happens all the time that couples _think_ they are well suited for each other, then it turns out they’re not.”

“That’s a chance we have to take,” Massu said. “A chance _they_ have to take. Rain Angel matches aren’t guaranteed forever. After we do our part, it’s up to the couple to make it work.”

“We are Rain Angels because we _know_ when we see a match,” Tegoshi added. “We feel it inside ourselves, that these two people should be together. You were chosen because you possess this feeling too, even if you haven’t experienced it yet.”

I looked down to earth, where Jin was getting ready to leave the studio. His movements were slow and distracted; he missed the sleeve of his jacket the first time he tried to put it on. He paid no attention to the sky as he stepped out, heading down the street instead of toward the parking garage.

“Looks like he’s going to the store for something,” Massu voiced. “Do you feel anything?”

The second Jin disappeared through the door of the conbini, thunder rumbled beneath my feet. “Am I doing that?” I wondered, feeling uneasy and certain at the same time.

TegoMasu both grinned and took a step back. “Just roll with it,” Tegoshi said. “Go with your instincts.”

I concentrated on the store and the roof disintegrated before my eyes, showing me the inside. There were random people mulling around, looking at magazines or considering purchases, and Jin was loitering by the cigarette machine. He appeared to be taking his time selecting a brand, despite smoking the same kind the entire time I’ve been following him. It was clear to me that he was thinking about something else.

“Those will kill you, you know,” someone said to him, a young woman partially hidden by a big, floppy hat and sunglasses. I didn’t recognize her by voice, but she was clearly familiar to him, enough to joke around with. “At least, they’ll kill your voice and you’ll have to get by on just your pretty face.”

Jin just chuckled. “Says the girl who used to beg me to sneak her some.”

“Hey!” she hissed, swatting him with her bare hand. “That was a long time ago, and why do you even remember that?”

“I remember _everything_ about you,” Jin told her in a teasing tone. “For blackmail purposes.”

The girl rolled her eyes. “That may have worked when I was younger, but I don’t care what my brother knows about me anymore.”

Simultaneously, Tegoshi and Massu choked. “No, no, no, absolutely not her!” Tegoshi practically screeched, lunging for my arm.

“What?” I exclaimed. “Why?”

“That’s Yamashita Rina-chan,” Massu informed me, swallowing hard. “Leader’s baby sister.”

“She’s off-limits,” Tegoshi said firmly. “Stop it right now.”

But I couldn’t. Everything inside me was roaring to continue, the sky below us darkening under my involuntary command. I hadn’t been trained on how to handle this power at all, so I couldn’t have stopped it even if I wanted to.

And I didn’t want to. Watching Jin with Rina made my heart swell, even if it was just because he was finally showing emotion at something that wasn’t Yamapi sending him pictures of Chinese food.

“He likes her,” I said defensively. “This is the first time he’s smiled since we’ve been watching him, and you’re telling me no?”

“I can’t override her,” Massu told Tegoshi, like I hadn’t even spoken. “I guess a woman’s intuition is stronger than us after all.”

They were lucky I couldn’t shoot lightning at them. As it was, I sent a current zig-zagging across the sky, fizzling out before it hit anything solid. It was enough to make them shut up, watching with dual expressions of horror like Yamapi would suddenly materialize from the troposphere and punch them both.

Besides, I’ve known Yamapi for a long time, and he wouldn’t hurt a fly. Why would he be opposed to his sister finding love with his best friend? To me it seemed like killing two birds with one stone. Jin was already comfortable with her, and she seemed to be accustomed to how he was. It was a perfect match.

Something told me to start before they left the store, so I let it out. It felt so _relieving_ to rain down on them, in addition to being excited. I felt like I was at the climax of a movie in real time.

“Ah, rain,” Jin commented as he finally moved his eyes from Rina to look outside the window. “You better get home before you melt.”

“Ha ha,” Rina replied, then grinned big. “The wicked witch of the _far_ east doesn’t melt.”

I made it come down harder, feeling only a little guilty about the other people scattering for cover, but then Rina’s expression changed. “Maybe we should wait it out.”

“I don’t have anywhere to be,” was Jin’s noncommittal reply.

The rain continued to pound as they stood by the cigarette machine, talking about work and Yamapi and whatever else came to mind. Jin bought them drinks and snacks, refusing repayment until Rina opted to put her money in the machine instead and pulled the lever for Jin’s brand.

“If you make me take them, I’ll tell Niichan that it’s your fault,” she told him.

“Sneaky,” he replied, but he was smiling as he reluctantly pocketed the pack.

I was getting tired, exhausted actually, and before I knew it the rain had started to let up.

“It’s okay, Maki-chan,” Tegoshi said gently. “Don’t push too hard. It’s only your first time.”

His hand on my shoulder was surprisingly soothing, holding me steady when I started to waver from the pressure. Making rain sure took a lot of energy. I had thought it would be easier without holding up the physical showerheads – those were only for the video.

“This is tricky,” Massu was saying, his voice sounding far away as my consciousness drifted. “They’re already friends, so it’s hard to tell if they’re even considering crossing that line.”

“That’s where the rain comes in, right?” I asked breathlessly. “I just gave them a push.”

“More like a shove,” Massu said with a laugh. “That was quite a downpour!”

I felt oddly proud. And very, very tired. “So what do I do now?”

“Go home and rest,” Tegoshi told me. “You’ve done all you can for now.”

It was a fight to focus my eyes, but worth it when I looked down to see Jin and Rina exiting the store together. There was a large puddle just off the curb, and Rina paused as she presumably considered the depth.

Then Jin leaned down and gestured for her to get on his back, and I physically clutched for my heart.

“Damn,” Tegoshi swore from behind me. “She was right.”

I tried not to gloat as I passed out.

~ ~

“Are you sure you’re not banging them?” Meisa’s voice floated into my head. “I mean, I know you’re not like that, but you look really… satisfied.”

I laughed at how _concerned_ she sounded. “I’m _fine_ , Mei,” I assured her as I rolled over to push myself up.

But I was not on my bed, and thus I ended up face-first on the floor.

“Ow,” I groaned.

“Still drunk?” Meisa asked. “Massu said you drank them both under the table. I’m kind of impressed, considering how built he is.”

“Since when do you call him ‘Massu’?” I teased her, attempting to take the focus off of my eventful outing.

Predictably, she turned away from me and fixed her hair in the mirror. “Since he brought you home last night and asked me to. He’s actually a caring guy, really worried about you and making sure you would be okay before he left.”

“You sound surprised,” I commented as I stretched right there on the floor. We’re girls – our carpet is usually clean. “Not all Johnny’s are womanizing bastards, you know.”

Meisa narrowed her eyes at me. “I don’t date.”

“Okay.” I shrugged and finally got up, feeling like I was hit by a train. At least physically – my senses still felt exhilarated, the aftermath of a very emotional experience.

Meisa hadn’t been too far off – it kind of felt like the morning after having really good sex, minus the particular soreness.

My phone went off then, leading me to fall all over myself in a rush to get to it. This just made Meisa even more suspicious, returning her attention to my new side job.

_Does it look like rain today?_

I nodded at Tegoshi’s code and jumped up with a sudden surplus of energy.

Then my stomach growled and I remembered the pancake mix in the pantry.

_After breakfast._

~ ~

“This is why you don’t match friends,” Tegoshi said sternly, gesturing to where Jin was seated on his couch with his head in his hands.

Rina was halfway down the street, shaking her head and swearing under her breath.

“What happened?” I asked, shaking my head in awe. “They were so into each other when we left!”

Tegoshi snorted. “Interesting choice of words. Apparently they ended up back here, because when I checked on them this morning, she was sneaking out of his bed.”

My eyes widened. “They… so fast?!”

“Since they were already friends, it happened naturally,” Massu explained. “There was no getting-to-know-you date necessary. A connection at this point just pushed them closer to each other – physically.”

Suddenly I felt very guilty. “It wasn’t supposed to happen like this!”

“They’re both confused now,” Tegoshi went on. “Rina-chan feels like a slut and Jin hates himself.”

“They need to talk about it!” I exclaimed, my hair flying across my face from the force. “How can we fix it?”

“We can’t,” Massu answered regretfully. “All we can do is remind them.”

“I’m not sure if either one of them wants to be reminded of it so soon,” Tegoshi added.

It was too late. I was already raining down on the world, this time out of sadness. Rina stopped walking and looked up at the sky, a thoughtful expression on her face as the water mixed with her tears. Back at Jin’s place, Jin stared out the window and watched the rain fall in thin streams.

They both appeared hopeful.

“I think it’ll be okay,” I said, the happiness filling me up inside. “Maybe they just need to… sort out their feelings.”

Next to me, Tegoshi didn’t look convinced. “It’s going to take awhile for him to bounce back from this. Take a couple weeks off and we’ll reconvene.”

“Don’t worry, Maki-chan,” Massu said with a pat to my shoulder. “You didn’t fail. You’ll have another chance to find Jin someone new.”

But I didn’t want to find Jin someone new. I wanted him to be with Rina, and I felt with my entire body that they would find their way back to each other.

I would just have to push them on my own now.

~ ~

Supernatural powers of spying weren’t necessary when Yamapi was around. Everyone thought that Koyama was the gossip king of the agency, but that’s just because Yamapi was more subtle about it. I figured it had a lot to do with him not having time for his own love life, so he lived vicariously through others.

Likewise, when Yamapi was angry, nobody could tell. I had spent the entire afternoon with him, checking out a new movie and doing some shopping, and we were heading back to his apartment with take-out when we passed Jin in the hallway.

“Hey,” Jin said to both of us. “I’m heading out.”

“Going to fuck my sister again?” Yamapi asked calmly.

Jin stopped in his tracks. “Tomo.”

“Or maybe it’s Mom’s turn,” Yamapi went on, turning to face his roommate with folded arms and expressionless eyes. “Nothing is sacred to you, is it?”

“I didn’t have to tell you, you know,” Jin said darkly. “I could have let you find out from her.”

Yamapi’s hands balled into fists, and I wasn’t so certain anymore that he wouldn’t have hit Jin if he wasn’t carrying two bags. “Get out of my sight, Akanishi.”

“Gladly,” Jin replied, then faced forward and strode away.

I stood there awkwardly while Yamapi balanced the bags to search for his keys. “Should I go?”

“No, no, I’m sorry,” Yamapi said, his fury subsiding as he let us inside. “I’m just really mad at him right now.”

“Do you think you’ll make up?” I asked carefully, stepping inside and kicking off my shoes. “You’ve been best friends forever.”

Yamapi sighed as he dumped the bags on the table and flopped down onto the couch. “Probably. Rina told me not to get involved, but dammit, that’s my baby sister! You don’t do that!”

“Does she have any regrets?”

He looked at me like I was crazy. “Huh?”

I busied myself with setting up the take-out as I spoke. “Do you even know her feelings about it? Maybe they did it because they genuinely like each other.”

“If that is so, then he should have asked me for permission before even he even thought about touching her,” Yamapi said firmly.

“You’re being stubborn,” I told him. “You know as well as I do that sometimes these things just happen. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they were both avoiding each other because of _you_.”

He gave me that look again. “I’m being stubborn?”

“You’re not even listening,” I said. “And I doubt you’ve spared a thought to how Rina _or_ Jin are feeling over the roar of your own rage.”

That might have been pushing it, but I was desperate. I didn’t have to stalk Jin to know that he cared deeply about Yamapi and their friendship, probably feeling like he betrayed him by acting on his feelings for Rina. And as a girl, I completely understood Rina’s automatic assumption that what had happened between them was just casual and meaningless. If she and I were friends, it would be easy to talk her into approaching him about it.

Instead I was stuck with her brother, the protective brick wall. Anxiously I watched Yamapi’s face as I ate, seeing no change in his expression with each passing second.

Finally, he reached for his box and hrmphed, purposely eating so that he wouldn’t have to talk.

I hid a smile. This was as good as a win.

~ ~

“I can’t find him,” I gasped, out of breath from racing around Rain Angel headquarters. “He’s not on any of the maps – what happened?”

“Calm down, Maki-chan,” Tegoshi said slowly, grabbing me by both arms to halt me. “He’s clearly not in Japan. I have a contact over on the American side checking around for us.”

I dropped right into a sitting position, folding my arms in disapproval. “How am I supposed to keep tabs on him if I can’t access him?”

Massu plopped right down next to me and offered me a meat bun. “International couples are complicated,” he told me. “The other nations are usually nice about working with us, but this is a little different because Jin’s not American.”

Tegoshi’s phone beeped and he flipped it open, speaking in barely passable English to someone on the other end. Then he closed it and grinned at me. “You’re in luck! Castiel-san found him in New York and said just to let him know when we need him to rain.”

“Ah, Castiel-san really adores Tegoshi,” Massu said in relief.

“So what, then?” I asked, still feeling lost. “Do I watch over Rina now?”

“Maki-chan, you need give up on Rina,” Tegoshi said firmly. “I’ve done a little research for you, and I found out that Jin is very close to one of his female backdancers-”

“ _No_ ,” I said, standing up just to stomp my foot. It didn’t have quite the same effect on a cloud, but it showed my discontent well enough. “This feels all wrong. He should be with Rina.”

“Maki-”

“Don’t argue with my intuition,” I snapped at him, then turned to Massu. “Is there a rule against raining on people you’re not assigned to?”

“Not exactly,” Massu answered sheepishly, hiding from Tegoshi’s glare. “You just can’t track them down using our equipment.”

“Fair enough,” I said. “I can find her on my own.”

It took me awhile, but I did. Rina was at the outdoor market, poring over the produce, when the storm hit. She quickly scrambled to make her purchases and stood under the awning, watching the rain fall down and splatter against the pavement.

“Tegoshi,” I said into my phone. “Please call your American contact and ask him to rain on Jin.”

The resulting “hai” sounded like he had absolutely no faith in me, but at least he did it. Morning in Japan meant late afternoon in New York, and I imagined Jin walking in the middle of a large crowd of people as the rain started to fall. I had no doubt in my mind that he would think of Rina, if he hadn’t been already.

Rina, meanwhile, had picked up her phone, but she was talking to her brother, trying to get a ride. He must have agreed, because she flipped her phone shut and waited patiently.

A few minutes later, it went off again.

I was on the edge of my cloud as she scanned the display, then smiled.

_I just stepped in a deep puddle and thought of you. – AmerikaJin_

Rina’s smile turned into a laugh, strong enough to bring tears to her eyes, or maybe that was for another reason. That was how Yamapi found her, pulling up to the curb slowly enough to avoid spraying his sister with the water pooled there.

He jumped out of the car and ushered her into the passenger side, then rushed back to the driver’s seat. “Why are you crying?” he demanded.

“I’m not crying,” Rina choked out.

“You’re obviously crying.”

“It’s the rain.”

Stubbornness clearly ran in the family. Yamapi carefully drove toward his mother’s house where Rina still lived, squinting to see through the storm and sighing at the traffic.

“Rina,” he finally said, licking his lips nervously. She looked at him expectantly, and he stared even harder at the road. “Do you like Jin?”

Rina twisted the bag of groceries. “I think I do.”

“‘Does he…” Yamapi trailed off, looking entirely uncomfortable but determined to push through. “Did he treat you well? Respectfully?”

Rina nodded. “He really did, Niichan. I know you’re angry with him, but I wanted to do it and I really thought that-”

“I don’t need details,” Yamapi cut her off gruffly, and she shook with silent laughter (and maybe relief). “I just… don’t want to be the reason why you’re not happy. Even if it’s with that guy.”

“Niichan,” Rina said slowly, her eyes growing big. “Do you mean it?”

Yamapi took a deep breath, then nodded once. “But if he hurts you, I’ll kill him myself.”

Rina squealed and threw her arms around his neck, nearly causing him to swerve as he struggled to look above her arm.

“Put your seat belt on,” was all he said.

As she returned to her own seat, the display on Yamapi’s phone lit up from being bumped, showing a text message that was dated just before Rina’s.

_I’m sorry I disappointed you, but I won’t apologize for falling in love with your sister._

~ ~

“You are so nosy,” Tegoshi teased, and I pushed him away.

“You say that like you’re not spying, too,” I told him knowingly.

From my other side, Massu passed the popcorn, and the three of us watched the scene unfold below.

Akanishi Jin’s face was brighter than the day outside, looking like only his man pride was stopping him from pulling his best friend slash roommate into a hug. “You really mean it?”

“Listen up, Jin – I’m not your friend right now,” Yamapi said sternly. “I’m Rina’s brother, and I swear to you on everything holy that if you ever cheat on her, lie to her, treat her badly, or make her cry, I will see to it that you sing soprano for an indefinite amount of time.”

Jin blinked. “Dude.”

“That is all.” Yamapi smiled, but it was a bit uneasy.

“Are you Pi-my-friend again?” Jin asked carefully.

Yamapi nodded.

“Oh, good.” Jin relaxed and punched Yamapi in the arm. “You will not believe what Rina’s brother just said to me-”

He was interrupted by Yamapi’s attack on his collarbones, which was how Rina found them when she let herself in.

“Wrong Yamashita,” she called out, and Jin shoved a laughing Yamapi off of him.

Jin’s face lit up even more when he looked at her smiling back at him. “Hey.”

“Hey,” she replied, flushing a little as she bit her lip.

From the floor, Yamapi’s grin became more natural.

And back up on our cloud, I lifted both hands for a double-high-five. My first assignment as a Rain Angel had been successfully completed.

~ ~

“What the…” I said slowly, hearing the bangs and grunts of frustration from my roommate’s bedroom. “Are you okay, Mei?”

I opened the door to find a frazzled Meisa in tiger-striped underwear, her hair sticking out as she seemed to be ploughing through every piece of clothing in her closet. “I don’t know what to wear!”

“Where are you going?” I asked calmly, trying to approach her. “It’s supposed to be nice outside tonight.”

“That’s not it,” Meisa huffed as she considered the loudest combination of patterns and colors she owned. “I don’t want to clash.”

“You don’t _want_ to clash?” I repeated. “I would start by not putting those together.”

Meisa blew her hair out of her face. “I mean I don’t want to clash with hi- um… this person.”

“This person.” My jaw dropped. “Are you going on a date?”

“No!” she exclaimed. “It’s not a date. It’s an… outing. To hang out.”

“Right,” I said. “And your companion has a particular style?”

She sighed heavily. “A very particular one.”

“I think solid colors would be okay then, don’t you?” I suggested gently. “You can’t go wrong with a black dress, anyway. Although if you go out again, you should color-coordinate.”

“Wouldn’t a black dress be a little too promiscuous?” she protested.

“You’re asking _me_ this?” I replied incredulously.

The door bell rang. “Shit, he’s early! Maki, _please_ …”

“ _Fine_ ,” I agreed, leaving her to her mountain of clothes as I strolled to the front door.

Massu was on the other side, holding a bouquet of purple flowers. They matched the polka dots on his pants.

“No way,” I said out loud.

“Good evening, Maki-chan,” he said all professionally. “Is Kuroki-san ready?”

“Not yet,” I replied, unable to stop the grin from creeping on my face. “Please, come in and have a seat. I’ll tell her you’re here.”

I closed the door behind Massu, guided him to the couch, then flew into Meisa’s room and tackled her. “ _Massu_?” I hissed.

“I don’t know!” she hissed back. “He gave me his number that night he brought you home in case anything happened to you, and the other day I was bored and gave him a call. Somehow we ended up making plans for tonight. More importantly, what is he wearing?”

“A striped shirt with two shades of blue and green capri pants,” I told her. “The pants have purple dots and matching suspenders.”

“Cool colors,” Meisa said. “Okay, I can work with that. Do you mind entertaining him for a bit?”

“Not at all,” I replied, giving her a knowing look before returning to the nervous-looking man in our living room. “It’s so weird seeing you in something other than white.”

Massu gave a shaky laugh. “Is that so.”

He really was nervous. How cute. I engaged him in some familiar talk about Tegoshi, only a bit mocking, which helped him relax a little. I snuck a text to the topic of conversation, and within ten minutes he was at my doorstep.

“I had to see this for my own eyes,” Tegoshi greeted them. “And to think, it’s not even raining.”

Massu narrowed his eyes. “Don’t you dare.”

“No worries,” Tegoshi said cheerfully as he helped himself to a seat on my couch. “I’ll be right here, keeping Maki-chan company while her roommate is gone.”

“That’s not really nec-” I started, but then Massu sent me a pleading look. “ _Fine_.”

Meisa’s door swung open just then and she emerged, wearing a low-cut purple shirt and jeans with blue-and-green striped heels.

Massu’s grin returned as he rushed to greet her properly. “We match!”

She looked pleased, politely accepting the flowers and putting them in a vase before they set off to wherever they were going.

“Be good,” I said to them. “Or not.”

Massu looked sheepish while Meisa just smirked.

They started to leave, but then Tegoshi called after them.

“Don’t forget an umbrella.”


End file.
